Please critique my first portrait/model shoot!

[sscphotography]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and was told this is a great site to receive critiques on work.
I would love some honest feedback on my first solo portrait shoot. My beautiful cousin allowed me to photograph her for some practice and here are the results (please keep in mind I used low res/half sized images for these so the final product looks better quality wise)

Portrait Photography Pt 2 - Melissa | Facebook

[Hill Country Hack]

Originally Posted by sscphotography

Hi everyone! I'm new here and was told this is a great site to receive critiques on work.
I would love some honest feedback on my first solo portrait shoot. My beautiful cousin allowed me to photograph her for some practice and here are the results (please keep in mind I used low res/half sized images for these so the final product looks better quality wise)

Portrait Photography Pt 2 - Melissa | Facebook

Welcome to DPS. Always glad to see a new person here. Generally speaking the critique section is for one or maybe two photos with specific questions ie. composition, WB, PP etc. Also one needs to include EXIF data so the reviews can have an understanding of how you shot and the results. Please follow the forum rules Critique Forum Rules and you will get a much better response.

As for your posted images, I am far from being pro, but they are good with a couple on the soft side of focus. I'm not sure if I'm digging the sun behind the subject shining off the top of the head.

[roostabunny]

Hey, welcome to the site!

HC Hack has already pointed you to the critique forum rules - for groups of shots like this, the SYS (Share Your Shot) section is probably better. For critique, you'll get best response by sticking with one pic and a specific question.

Overall, you've got some good light and poses with a pretty model. I also noticed some blown out highlights in the hair that Hack mentioned. There's a couple of awkward crops.

And honestly, I'm not sure if your focus was soft or if you've maybe just lost details by over-processing her face. Skin processing is largely a taste/client choice, but IMO if you're going to go whole-hog on smoothing the face, you should consistently hit the shoulders/arms, too. I think you did that on some, but even with the mediocre resolution on Facebook I can see a significant difference in detail (freckles, arm peach fuzz in the back light) between the face and the rest of the skin on some on the others. And again, taste comes into play, but I'm guessing your model is about 30 years from needing this much smoothing.

Edit: Side note, Google+ has a way (WAY) better light box than FB and allows for higher resolution. Photos look great there. May want to check it out.

[UrbanCowgirl]

Hey,

I have a couple favorite shots that you took.
The full-body when when she's leaning back against the fence. Super super nice lines really draws you into the picture and she's posed really nicely. I also really like the one where she's against the tree and looking off-camera, it's just an interesting thing to do-you wonder what they're looking at. I like a bit of mystery in photography.
There's also one where she's on a small wall with her arms around a knee. It's a great pose and she's a really beautiful girl. You may want to blur the background a bit more with a wider aperture though.
I also really really like the subtly B&W/sepia effect you did on one

The only critiques I can think of are fake smiles are obviously fake. I loathe fake smiles XD even though she has a very nice one. I'd rather they pout or look away or just be natural. Also you have a great knack for shooting wide open and incorporate it in your shots- but when it's not that interesting make it a bookeh to attract more focus on the model.
Also there's 3 versions of one shot when she's leaning on the fence... I would have made her turn her body away a bit more or rested her face in her hand. Her head looks a bit too tilted for my tastes. Not a huge fan of the Halo in the one pic (already mentioned) but you do have nice hair light.

Also I didn't notice the large amount of skin softening until roostabunny mentioned it. Here's how I do skin softenting on photoshop. Take the base image (after color correction etc), duplicate layer, gausian blur a bit (with preview. Its in the filter menu under blur I belive). Apply a mask, fill black and use a white soft brush to do the skin then bring down the opacity until in looks pleasing but believable.
Look back at the original and the edited one a day or two later to see if you still like it.

Happy shooting XD

-M-

EDIT: also, I really like the simple elegant country look with the plain jeans and white T and heels/cowgirl boots.
Nice work